Tucker out at FoxNews

[Jolly]

Good.

[Copper]

He must have done something incredibly stupid to make fox cut lose so many viewers.

[Jolly]

I think Rupert has lost a step ...

[Doctor Phibes]

@Copper said in Tucker out at FoxNews:

He must have done something incredibly stupid to make fox cut lose so many viewers.

Well, he lost nearly a billion dollars a week ago, so maybe that had something to do with his thought process.

[Renauda]

@Jolly said in Tucker out at FoxNews:

I think Rupert has lost a step ...

No, as was already pointed out, he lost close to a billion dollars American.

[jon-nyc]

[Jolly]

@Renauda said in Tucker out at FoxNews:

@Jolly said in Tucker out at FoxNews:

I think Rupert has lost a step ...

No, as was already pointed out, he lost close to a billion dollars American.

He lost a lot of that because he lost his #1 weekend show and his #1 primetime show.

[Renauda]

@Jolly

He lost a lot of that because he lost his #1 weekend show and his #1 primetime show.

An’ don’a you forget, close to a billiona dollars in an out of court settlement.

[LuFins Dad]

You know, I still haven’t seen a single clip where Fox News treated the story as undeniably true. I saw them report the allegations, I saw them posit about what the allegations would mean if proven true, but I have not seen a single clip where they stated Dominion had cheated or altered ballots.

[Doctor Phibes]

@LuFins-Dad said in Tucker out at FoxNews:

You know, I still haven’t seen a single clip where Fox News treated the story as undeniably true. I saw them report the allegations, I saw them posit about what the allegations would mean if proven true, but I have not seen a single clip where they stated Dominion had cheated or altered ballots.

So why pay out all that money?

[Doctor Phibes]

@Jolly said in Tucker out at FoxNews:

@Renauda said in Tucker out at FoxNews:

@Jolly said in Tucker out at FoxNews:

I think Rupert has lost a step ...

No, as was already pointed out, he lost close to a billion dollars American.

He lost a lot of that because he lost his #1 weekend show and his #1 primetime show.

No, I was talking about the money he lost to Dominion.

[jon-nyc]

@LuFins-Dad

What got them in legal trouble were two things -

(1) their marquee personalities piling on: Lou Dobbs principally but also Maria Bartiromo and to a lesser extent Tucker and Hannity, and

(2) them repeatedly platforming the crazy crew, Powell, Lindell, Giuliani and Wood, while simultaneously communicating internally that they were bat-shit crazy, publicity-seeking confabulators.

[George K]

@Renauda said in Tucker out at FoxNews:

close to a billiona dollars in an out of court settlement.

I've read that insurance is picking up a significant portion of that.

[LuFins Dad]

@Doctor-Phibes said in Tucker out at FoxNews:

@LuFins-Dad said in Tucker out at FoxNews:

You know, I still haven’t seen a single clip where Fox News treated the story as undeniably true. I saw them report the allegations, I saw them posit about what the allegations would mean if proven true, but I have not seen a single clip where they stated Dominion had cheated or altered ballots.

So why pay out all that money?

Because the internal communications and other areas open to discovery in the trial were problematic in other ways that they felt it was worthwhile to settle?

[Renauda]

@George-K said in Tucker out at FoxNews:

@Renauda said in Tucker out at FoxNews:

close to a billiona dollars in an out of court settlement.

I've read that insurance is picking up a significant portion of that.

If that’s the case just wait until Murdoch sees next year’s insurance premiums.

[George K]

@Renauda said in Tucker out at FoxNews:

I've read that insurance is picking up a significant portion of that.

If that’s the case just wait until Murdoch sees next year’s insurance premiums.

[Doctor Phibes]

@George-K said in Tucker out at FoxNews:

@Renauda said in Tucker out at FoxNews:

close to a billiona dollars in an out of court settlement.

I've read that insurance is picking up a significant portion of that.

Oh God, I hope we don't insure them.

[George K]

Fox probably won’t pay anything near $787.5 million

Fox had about $4 billion of cash on hand as of December 2022, and MoffettNathanson analyst Robert Fishman expects the company to pay the settlement during the current quarter.

How much the lawsuit will actually end up costing Fox is unclear because there are ways it can defray some of the expense, primarily through insurance and the use of tax deductions.

Fox can deduct the Dominion settlement from its income taxes as an expense necessary for the cost of doing business. Fox Chief Communications Officer Brian Nick has confirmed the deductibility of the settlement.

Big companies often deduct large settlements to help offset some of the cost, but since settlement amounts are usually confidential, it’s difficult to pin down exactly how much they benefit. Payments that are seen as restitution or compensation can be deducted, while payments made to the government or at the direction of a government are usually not deductible.

Robert Willens, a tax professor at the Columbia University School of Business, estimates that after the tax write-off, Fox will incur about three-fourths of the settlement amount, about $590 million.

“The key is that if the payments are being made to private parties and not at the behest of the government then you can pretty much conclude without any fear of contradiction that the payment will be deductible,” he said.

A study by the Government Accountability Office in 2005 found that of 34 settlements totaling over $1 billion, 20 companies reported deducting some portion or all of their settlement payments. Big banks such as Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase reportedly also deducted portions of their settlements of charges tied the financial crisis of 2008.

Also, if Fox is insured, insurance is likely to cover some of the settlement. Chad Milton, a partner at Media Risk Consultants, said a large media company such as Fox could have anywhere between $100 million to $500 million in coverage, including media liability insurance and other types of insurance.

“It’s not hard to stack up $100 million but as you go higher than that, it gets harder and harder,” Milton said.

[George K]

[George K]

I’m Still Employed By Fox

Tucker Carlson might not have a show on Fox News any longer. However, he told 19FortyFive that he was not fired.

Until a week ago, Carlson had the most-watched show on cable news.

“I’m still employed by Fox,” Carlson said in a text message to 19FortyFive.

Carlson, however, did not go into detail why he believes his show was cancelled.

Vanity Fair published a rumor that his show got axed because Fox owner Rupert Murdoch was uncomfortable with the religiosity of his address at the Heritage Foundation’s 50th Anniversary gala.

Tucker Carlson told 19FortyFive that would be hard to prove.

This confirms the ideas championed by former Fox star Megyn Kelly, who was Carlson’s predecessor in the 8 p.m. timeslot. Kelly stated on her Sirius XM show that Fox CEO Suzanne Scott contacted him Monday morning and told him he would not be allowed to do any more shows.

“He was kicked out of his company email, and now he has to negotiate an exit,” Kelly said. “Some reporting to me suggested that it’s going to be an amicable parting … completely catching Tucker off-guard.

Kelly continued: “Tucker’s not fired. That’s my information, that he still needs to negotiate the exit and that right now he’s not free to launch a podcast or a digital show or to negotiate with other employers at all because he’s still under contract. They pulled his show off the air. They also fired his executive producer Justin Wells.”

She also noted that Fox would not tell him why his show was cancelled.

“To me that’s so disheartening. He’s been at the company for years. He had been in the prime time for seven years and saw Fox News through one of its most difficult times in its history,” Kelly said.